1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a foldable agricultural implement having independently movable sections for defoliating root crops, particularly sugar beets.
2. Description of Related Art
Removing and cutting up the tops of the sugar beet plants, for example, prior to digging and collecting the sugar beet is known. The known defoliating implements are made with a wide, one-piece frame that covers 12 rows of beets. However, the current frames are stiff, and cannot accommodate the unevenness of ground normally occurring in a beet field. The unevenness of ground results in unevenness of cut and what is known as "skip and scuff" of the sugar beet due to removing either too much or too little of the foliage. Skip and scuff is common with the stiff-frame defoliators and reduces both the yield and efficiency of the current defoliating process.
Other problems associated with the stiff-frame, one-piece defoliator include transporting such a wide agricultural implement. Moving the implement from the farmer's shop to the field requires traveling on public roads and may create a safety hazard by taking up a large portion of the road. In addition, many beet fields have narrow borders as well as narrow gates and passageways leading into them. A wide, one-piece defoliator often cannot be maneuvered through the gates and passageways or around the borders of the fields.
Another problem associated with the one-piece defoliator is storing the implement when it is not in use. The wide, one-piece implement requires large amounts of floor space and causes inefficient use of storage space.